Juan Fernandez, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to the boy’s parents — Dominic and Ashley Barrera — and they told him their son, Jesse, was grabbed from behind in his backyard by an unknown adult male around 4 p.m.

The suspect put his hand over the boy’s mouth and took him down the street — kicking and screaming — away from his home in the 2500 block of Graydon Avenue.

The parents told Fernandez that they taught their son to fight back in such a situation and he remembered what he was told.

Dominic Barrera said, “Someone came into our yard. And picked up our son…like a football. And then ran down the block and took him. My kid was kicking and biting and screaming. He dropped my son. And then he ran back here.”

The boy’s mother said she has long warned her son about such a possibility. “I’ve told him people will try to trick you. They might say something nice. But if anyone grabs you, you fight. You fight. You kick. You bite. You scream. You yell. You draw blood. If anyone tries to take you, they aren’t doing anything nice. They’re trying to hurt you.”

Mrs Barrera wondered from time to time if she was doing the wrong thing putting possibly scary images in her son’s head, “maybe I was putting too much fear in him,” but choking back tears she said, “it helped him today.”

Sheriff’s deputies brought in bloodhounds to try to pick up the man’s trail.

Juan Fernandez joined CBS2 News as a general assignment reporter in January 1996.
These days Fernandez wears many different hats. He reports for various editions of CBS 2 News. He also anchors and even does the weather when duty calls.
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actually AKJ I have to agree, sounds like the kid was playing somewhere he wasn’t supposed to and used this to avoid punishment, actually I hope that’s what happened, we don’t need another child predator, BUT if true it’s a chance to catch a child predator B4 the cops do

Why would anybody at this point think it’s BS!!!!! A child was possibly kidnapped and thanks to the child responding in a manner as such the preditor was unable to do his thing. I think the surrounding area should be aware that people like this do walk the area. I encourage everybody to jump-on Megans Law and beaware of any sex registrant in the area. I beleive the Sheriff’s Department is experianced enough to catch this preditor and with the communities help prevent this from happening again.